Stuck in my language
by Fighter1357
Summary: So, a weapon that revertes you to speaking only your native language... who was the idiot that came up with that idea? Because, frankly, Robin is not happy with the result of only speaking Romani. He doesn't NOT want to learn English again. And, is it permenant? What happens when he starts losing all knowledge of the English language? What happens when it physically harms him?
1. Chapter 1: Hit

**Written by: Fighter1357**

**Published: 6/5/12**

**Status: Right now? Incomplete. Two chapters. **

**I had to type this…. yeah… sonow I have to put it up. Typing and then waiting does _not _work. **

**Disclaimer: Only this idea is mine. Nothing else. **

**A/N: I have no idea about the first part of it, before they get to wherever they're going, because it was just filler, except for one part… you'll see.**

**Season one cast minus Rocket, because I like them better and it fit. **

**Also, special guest from an Alternate dimension! So could be considered a slight crossover with _ but I put it in the YJ Fandom because only one character from it appears and they aren't even a major character. **

**With that said, enjoy! **

* * *

"The point of this mission is to scout and report back. Do not, and I repeat, _do not _engage," Batman told the team, standing stoically in front of them.

Each member nodded in understanding, not really wanting to disappoint Batman; especially Robin. Batman decided to deploy them on a mission since they had had nothing better to do. It was just a simple mission in some place called Jump City. They were told, as you have just heard, that it was a scouting mission that they should know to do correctly.

"We will not," Aqualad assured the bat, his arms crossed over his chest as he stared at Batman. They could tell that under the cowl, whoever he was, Batman was giving him a doubtful look. Robin gave a silent scoff and looked away, crossing his arms and staring at the floor, obviously annoyed with the lack of confidence in their fine team from Batman. Kid Flash gave the boy a nudge but said nothing.

Batman sent Robin a look but other than that, he completely ignored the noise that was made all together. Robin scowled and looked away from Batman, a slightly annoyed look on his face.

No one said anything, but with the way Batman seemed to be rushing with the debriefing and looked like he wanted to get out and Robin acting annoyed and scowling they knew something was going on between the two. Frankly, none of them wanted to know what it was; a bat argument would probably be as intense as Batman fighting the Joker… okay, so maybe not that intense, but still intense. They were pretty tight, normally.

Artemis had once brought up the fact that Batman might actually be Robin's dad and the Boy Wonder his son. They had never really contemplated the thought further but it still bugged them occasionally.

"Good, you're going. Now."

Aqualad nodded and the team walked to the hanger. Robin rushed passed them, arms still crossed and a fairly annoyed look on his face as he stomped straight up to the Bio-ship and into it.

"What crawled up his butt and died?" Artemis muttered, glaring in the direction of the Bio-ship.

"Do not be to harsh, obviously something is going on between the two," Aqualad noted, defending the younger boy as they walked upward into the Martian ship.

"Well, he shouldn't take out the problems he has with his dad with us," Artemis scoffed as they walked into the ship. Kid Flash glared at her, but said nothing and Superboy shrugged, not really listening to the conversation. Zatanna opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by Robin from inside the Bio-ship.

"He is defiantly _not _my dad!" Robin called out, glaring at Artemis as she appeared in the ships control room. She stopped to stare at him from the anger and bitterness in his voice but shook it off and took her seat, blushing slightly as she stared out the window.

"What is he? Your Uncle?"

Robin's head snapped toward Zatanna as the ship took off into the air. He stared at her confused, as if wondering why she would as the question, but then turned away and stared out the window, ignoring her gaze. She hadn't backed down and continued to stare until she got an answer. In all honestly, she was curious about them. Both being so secretive and… yeah, secretive.

"No, I share no blood relation to him in any way," he retorted, giving her a sideways glance with crossed arms and masked, mysterious eyes.

"Really?" she asked, suddenly surprised; she'd always thought that he was related to Batman in some way. So, was it true that his parents seriously let him go out every night with Batman in Gotham? Then again, it _was _Gotham, so who knew?

"Yeah."

"Oh," Zatanna muttered, looking away and down.

Artemis scowled at the boy for his blunt response, for someone who was so angry with the bat, he sure acted a heck of a lot like him when he was angry. She wouldn't say anything, she really didn't want to get Robin mad at her too, probably not the best idea, and turned away with a huff of annoyance and a deeper etched scowl. Superboy, who was a seat in front of her, turned around slightly to smirk; so, she scowled at him too.

M'gann looked around, slightly displeased with the sour moods that had seemed to creep up on everyone. Of course, it affected her too and this caused her to lean over slightly, her cheeks going just a bit more greener than before as a sick feeling rolled over her. Then a mood of disappointment; that came from Kaldur, probably because he felt ashamed of how the team was acting and he'd done nothing, so far, to stop it.

She sent him a pitying glance but knew he didn't see or feel it, mostly as he was in front of her and facing the opposite direction. Robin was turned toward the window, slumped in his seat with his arms crossed and eyes narrowed. She felt anger waving off him and even a bit of insecurity. It was nothing to bad, but she felt slightly wary of it and hoped it wouldn't effect his performance.

"We're approaching Jump City and the Jump City University Tech Center," Miss Martian said, straightening and looking forward.

"Good, is everyone ready?" Aqualad asked, glancing to each member; his gaze lingered on Robin, who ignored it and looked away, but then moved to Miss Martian. "Can you set up the Mind Link?" He sent a sideways glance toward Robin, who ignored it and turned away, but then turned back toward Miss M. She nodded and set everyone up.

_"Everyone here?"_

_"Yep, I'm here," _Wally commented, not doing his usual 'Sup, Babe!"

_"Uh huh," _this came from a certain archer.

_"Yeah," _Robin seemed to growl, obviously annoyed with the fact that people were in his head at the moment.

_"I'm in!" _Zatanna said, beaming.

_"Here," _only Connor, Batman and Robin could achieve such bluntness.

_"I am here," _Kaldur said this, and everyone nodded toward him.

The Bio-ship created holes for each of them to jump out of. Superboy and Zatanna dropped out onto the nicely cut green lawn. A small crater was created from where the clone landed but no one commented. Robin and Miss Martian went out next, the green girl using her telepathic powers to lower the thirteen year old onto the lawn. Artemis, Kid Flash and Aqualad jumped down next to the rest and the Bio-ship, having gone into camouflage mode, flew up and over the buildings that made the Tech Center.

"_Artemis and Kid Flash well go on the north side_. _Zatanna and Robin will go to the south side. Miss Martian will go with Superboy to the west and I'll go to the east. Anything suspicious and report on top of the North building. Remember, do not engage, this is a recon mission to find out what was stolen," _Aqualad commanded.

Everyone nodded, understanding the orders that were given. Heck, they were much to simple for the team to carry out and would be probably done with the utmost care. Not.

_"What if they're here?" _Zatanna asked, the question ringing in everyone's minds.

_"Contact me via the link and I'll contact Batman." _

Robin visibly flinched, but no one made any note of this. Whatever was going on between them was much more stressful then they thought.

Aqualad gave them a look along with a short, curt nod. They nodded in return and darted through the shadows toward their assigned buildings.

**-0O0-**

Robin and Zatanna made their way to an air duct.

The boy hoped that the ventilation system of the building was updated, as the newer ones always creaked when one crawled through them. Both he and the girl next to him were fairly light, but even then so it was annoying to here a crack sound through the entire building, echoing off the walls and telling anyone in the building with them 'Hey! You're not alone here! Come find me!'

"Robin?" Zatanna's silent yet soft voice spoke behind him as he quickly unscrewed the screws from the air duct.

"Yeah?" he asked, his voice displaying no emotion as he worked.

"Are you… sure you're okay?"

"M'Fine," he answered, much to quickly for the girl to feel comforted by the answer. She knew he wasn't, in fact, fine, but didn't say anything else as he removed the vent and climbed in. She followed after him and the silence seemed to leak from him as they crawled through the small space. He seemed relaxed in here and obviously this was a normal routine for him to do.

Zatanna didn't know that much about Gotham City except for the fact that it was one of the most crime-ridden cities in America. Well, that and Bludhaven. But even then so, Gotham was filled with crazy criminals' like Joker and Penguin and Two Face. She'd seen them on the news sometimes but her father always changed it once Batman and Robin came in and it got brutal. One time she had seen it anyway because her father had fallen asleep. It was bloody. Real bloody. It was after she had met the team so seeing Robin fighting those insane criminals had worried her, especially when he had gotten stabbed in the leg.

"Zatanna, we're dropping down here. I see someone and it isn't a security guard," Robin said, drawing her out from her thoughts.

"What makes you so sure?"

"Because he's wearing some gamers getup and has long, orange greasy hair."

"Oh, okay then. How do you wanna do this?"

Robin sent her a sideways glance, one that obviously said 'seriously?' but then turned away and gave a short sigh.

"You heard _him_, do not engage. We have to contact the team," he said bitterly, obviously annoyed with the fact that he couldn't do anything except press a comm. link to contact the rest of the fellow members.

Zatanna leaned down and peered closely at the man that Robin had spotted. He had something in his hands, obviously whatever what was stolen. Now, they certainly hadn't expected someone to be here, as the thing they had stolen had been stolen _yesterday_. For what need was he back here?

_"We got something, some guy or whatnot. Handling a weapon too. What do you want us to do?" _Robin's voice echoed through everyone else's and Zatanna silently cringed, still unused to it.

_"What does the guy looked like? _Connor asked.

Robin seemed to think about it and then replied, "_Fat, greasy orange long hair, freckles… doesn't really look like a villain." _

_"Gotcha," _Kid Flash thought toward the two duo in the air vents. _"All I got was Artemis here gibbering on about nonsense. No fat, greasy, freckled guys." _

_"Shut up, Baywatch!" _

_"You shut up!" _

_"Quiet," _Aqualad snapped, causing everyone to cringed and wince. _"Batman said that we can engage, as this man doesn't not sound harmful. You and Zatanna may go, we'll be there in a few moments." _

Robin gave a nodded, ignoring the glance that Zatanna sent him, and opened up the vent that led into a columned room with pedestals' filled with very nice and metallic weapons. Led lights created an eerie effect, as a few flickered with ticking sounds.

Robin gave the black haired girl scrunched up beside him in a vent a quick, reassuring smile and then dropped down to the floor with hardly a sound. His boots made a faint thud, but nothing that one would detect unless they saw Robin drop to the group. Zatanna muttered a spell under her breath and the air solidified under the vent, allowing her to be able to slid down with no sound at all. Robin gave her a look that was obviously impressed but slightly annoyed even then so.

Suddenly, the light's went on at full blast as Kid Flash and Artemis appeared next to the duo. The man with the long, greasy, orange hair stood in front of them. He wore a long brown jacket and was way overweight.

"Hello, Kiddies!" He announced, "I am Control Freak and-" he saw Kid Flash and Robin, standing next to each other. He completely ignored the odd stares the two girls were giving him. "You!" he pointed toward Robin, "What are you doing here! Last time… You and the Cyborg, you took me down! I… but," he grinned and then let out the way to stereotypical villain laugh, "I'm in an Alternate dimension! You're not Robin, well, not _my _Robin!"

Robin and Kid Flash glanced at each other, along with Artemis knocking an arrow and glaring at the man.

"What are you talking about?" she growled, grey eyes narrowing as she looked at the man with a steely glare.

"I told you," Control Freak said, giving out a loud, annoyed sigh, "I'm from an Alternate Dimension! There's a Robin in my Dimension!"

With that Robin merely stood there staring at the man with a curious gaze.

"So why are you here?" he asked, obviously curious.

"Huh?" Control Freak asked, not even noticing the fact that Miss Martian, Superboy and Aqualad appeared behind him.

_"Apparently," _Robin said through the mind-link, "_he's from another Dimension." _

_"Okay, and?" _Connor said, shrugging visibly while Control Freak went on and on about how annoy Robin and his team in the alternate dimension were.

_"Just a tid-bit of information." _

Suddenly, Control Freak hefted the weapon that he had stolen up and grinned as he pointed it at Robin. "I just can't get enough of you even in another Dimension, can I!"

"No, doesn't look like it."

"Hmmm, can you then help and tell me what this thing does? It's practically useless!"

Robin, already annoyed, growled and lunged at the thief.

So the man shot him with the weapon. In a blast of neon green the Boy Wonder was shot back into a column and lay limp once he slid to the floor. Green Electricity cackled around his head but then slowly died down. Connor made a lunged for the man but Control Freak jumped out of the way and opened a portal.

"Well… bye!" and then he jumped through the portal, leaving Superboy to grab thin air.

Zatanna rushed toward Robin's side. She helped him sit up, but the boy was still unconscious as she layed his head on her lap.

"Is he alright?" M'gann asked worriedly, biting her lip and glancing down at the boy with a worried and concerned look.

Zatanna nodded, still looking like she was still in shock. "Uh huh, still unconscious… wait, he's waking up."

They all crowded around the Boy Wonder, leaning over him. Under the mask, his eyes fluttered open and he sat up, grasping his head in pain. Everyone let out a sigh of relief for their youngest member and leaned back.

"Rob," Kid Flash asked, "You okay?"

Robin glanced up at him and nodded, giving him a shy smile, obviously he was angry in his actions, "Băieţi? Ce e în neregulă? Oh, rahat! Ce e în neregulă cu mine! Eu vorbesc ... Nu engleză! Oh, omule! Acest lucru nu este bun ... nu mă pot înţelege ... poţi? Numai romani! Acest lucru nu este bun ... rahat! Nu puteţi understnad un cuvânt ce spun! Wally nu-mi da ca aspect necompletat!"

Everyone stared at him in shock, unsure of what he said. What language was Robin speaking.

"Uh, Robin, can you repeat that?" Artemis asked, still reeling from what Robin had just said.

"Eu vorbesc Romani ... AW rahat! Lucru a revenit limba mea! Eu pot vorbi doar limba mea maternă!" he went on and then groaned falling back into the column with a thump and a sigh.

Zatanna glanced at M'gann. "Can you translate?"

M'gann held her hands to her temple and her eyes glowed white; after a few seconds she let her hands fall and shook her head. "No, it's not a written language. He's speaking Romany… his native tongue. Whatever that thing did to him, well, it reverted him back to his native language."

"So," Artemis mused, glancing at the Martian before her, "had you been shot with it, you'd be speaking Martian?" The girl nodded in response and Artemis glanced down at Robin, who seemed to be panicking.

"So, he's stuck for now?" Connor asked.

"Yep."

* * *

**Romani is technically not a written Language… as far as I know. So I'm using Romanian and calling it Romani. Now, before you correct me, there are Romanian Gypsy's and therefore this means Romanian could be their language… so let's go with that. **

**Ahem, any of you reading any of my other stories, I'm trying to work on them, just needed something new to work on. Hope you understand. **

**Thanks. **

**Review? **


	2. Chapter 2: Rant

**Ho'Kay so if you translated what Robin was saying on Google translate… well, it translated the Romanian word for 'crap' to 's**t' in English and that's not what I meant it to. It's supposed to be crap…. sorry. I generally don't speak or write curse words. **

**Oh and about the translations… I knew I was forgetting something! Shoot… okay, I'll add them in this one. Sorry. **

**This is probably going to be a five shot. Just gonna warn you now. Yeah... **

* * *

"What are we gonna do now?" Artemis asked, casting Robin a long glance as he pretty much hyperventilated on the floor, Zatanna all the while trying to calm him down.

M'gann frowned and turned to Aqualad, who was watching Robin, and touched his shoulder. The atlantean looked up, slightly surprised, but then smiled and nodded toward her. "I do not know what else to do other than to report back to Mount. Justice. Perhaps Martian Manhunter will now what to do," he inclined, wincing as he thought of what Batman might do to them when he found out his 'little bird' had gotten semi hurt or, god forbid, got shot at with a weapon. For a man who let this kid out in Gotham, he seemed to get worried a lot (not that he would show it) when Robin got hurt and tended to look like he would rip their throat out if they reported back with bad news.

"I agree with that," Wally agreed, nodding along with Connor; who in which seemed to be a bit confused.

"Oameni? Sunt puţin confuz ... ce facem?"

Everyone turned to face Robin, who, with Zatanna's assistance, was standing up now. He had spoken and one could tell with his tone he was confused with them as well. As far as they knew he could still understand english yet couldn't speak it. It was only a minor set back but would still a bit of confusion with the team.

"Robin, don't talk. No one can understand you," Wally said slowly, as if talking to a foreigner, causing the Boy Wonder to turn toward him and cross his arms, glaring with all his thirteen year old might. Which was pretty could with teen moodiness and the Batglare mixed in.

"Dar eu sunt confuz! Nici unul dintre voi mi spui nimic!"

Now everyone, including Zatanna, turned to glare at him and he shrunk back slightly, scowling as he realized it was hopeless to try and speak and reason with them, especially considering they couldn't understand him. He knew that this would a be a problem and even more so at home, especially considering the fact that neither Bruce nor Alfred knew how to speak Romani as he had known a fair amount of English once he'd come to live there. But nonetheless, he still wanted to talk. He was chatty by nature and tended to talk a lot when he was in trouble. It was a small idiosyncrasy that drove people crazy. Another one was pulling pranks. Sure, he was a crime fighting superhero but he was still a kid at heart. He and his friend Barbra had found that out when she had brought Silly Putty to math class one day. To say the least, they made a snowman army and even a working slingshot (don't ask how they managed that with Silly Putty).

"Come on, let's get back to the ship and to Happy Harbor. 'Sides, I need something to eat," Wally complained, holding his stomach and swooning over a bit. Rob opened his mouth to retort but then snapped it shut and groaned, remembering that he shouldn't talk. Wally and Artemis smirked at the boys obvious discomfort but them remembered he could very much curse them out in his native language and refrained from doing anything else but standing and staring, tight lipped.

Miss Martian nodded and mentally called the Bio-Ship over the building. Robin sighed and jumped through the vent along with Zatanna, Artemis and Wally following behind him. Aqualad sighed and jumping after them, closing the vent shaft. M'gann grabbed Connor's hand and smiled before flying up and going intangible through the roof. A small tingling sensation developed in the clones stomach but he passed it off as a side-effect.

They entered the ship, each to his own thoughts, and sat down. Robin slumped over, his arms crossed, as he stared out the window toward the Jump City skyline. He sighed audibly, which caused each other member to glance at each other with worried glances. Of course, they new this must be serious. Seriously, Robin may have seemed calm, but by his body language it seemed he was freaking out. M'gann shot an irritated look upwards, toward nothing in particular, in frustration because that she couldn't link uo with Robin.

"Who like's cupcakes? I like cupcakes… I have a feeling this conversation is very one sided," Wally squeaked, attempting to lighten the mood and start a conversation. Artemis glanced at him and then Robin, who hadn't turned around, and smirked; she had uncannily realized the speedsters ulterior motive.

"Mmmm, I _love _cupcakes. Sooo delicious. What about you Zatanna?"

"Amazing… but I prefer cake. What about you Connor?"

"Don't bring me into this."

"Voi suge, tu ştii că nu?"

"I… am… sorry… can't… understand… you!"

"Wally, you should stop," M'gann inserted, sitting up whilst sending a pointed look toward Wally and jutting a jaw toward Robin. Everyone glanced toward Robin, who was fumbling with a Batarang very inconspicuously. Wally grimaced and nodded, sending the boy a sorry look but knowing he wasn't seen. The Martian nodded and smiled calmly as they approached the mountain.

"What are we gonna tell Batman?" Zatanna asked, glancing toward Robin who sat up and shrugged, opening his mouth but then shutting it once more. He scowled at the thought of his mentor and looked sullenly as they approached Happy Harbor. Obviously, talking to Batman was a bother to him at the moment. Whatever it was must've been big. Probably an argument.

"Landing in the Hanger. Exiting Camouflage mode."

They nodded, each to his own thoughts as the mountain's door's opened to let them in. M'gann let out an audible groan as she saw Batman and Superman waiting for them to enter. Robin gave a loud huff and slumped over in his seat, obviously seeing his… guardian ruining his mood even further. Zatanna lifted a hand to rub his shoulder, but thought against it as they landed and the doors to the hanger closed and the one to the Bio-ship opened.

They each exited and stood in front of the Leaguers, Wonder Women coming to join them, and an awkward silence filled the hanger. Of course, until a certain speedster broke it.

"Robin is stuck only speaking Romani," he yelled, his arm snapping toward the younger boy. Robin jumped and snapped at him in the unfamiliar language and then proceeded to face palm when he realized that no one could understand him. He sighed and rubbed his temples, glaring at the floor menacingly. Superman blinked and opened his mouth, pointing toward the boy and then shook his head, turning toward Batman and crossing his arms.

"Is he hurt?" the Dark Knight asked, growling as he moved toward the confused boy, who stepped away and glared.

"Not that we know of," Kaldur replied slowly, as if unsure of what to say, "since he is not able to tell us, but he did crash into a pillar at the museum. The man, we are unsure of his name, used the… weapon and shot at Robin, claiming he knew him?" The atlantean glanced at the others for help and Zatanna stepped forward. She seemed nervous, everyone's eyes were on her, even Robin's, and she smiled sheepishly, blushing deep red.

"Well, um, the guy said he was from an alternate dimension where he still knew Robin, and shot it at… our Robin, I guess. When he got up he could only speak Romani and M'gann can't seem to translate for us."

"Hmmm… Robin, say something. He can still understand English, correct?"

They all nodded and he smirked slightly.

Robin gave a sigh, glared at him, and opened his mouth to speak. "Eşti un nemernic. Tu nu spui niciodată am făcut bine şi numai punctul greşelile mele. Niciodată nu-mi spui că eu sunt bun şi, adesea, lasă-mă stând acolo, în camera mea, întrebându-mă dacă eu sunt destul de bun pentru a fi aici. Poate ar trebui să mă dau la orfelinat! Poate că va face viaţa mai uşoară dacă aveţi un singur lucru mai puţin să vă faceţi griji! Stii ce! Poate voi merge pe contul meu propriu. De fiecare dată când practica sau de a face ceva pentru tine, bine, niciodata nu spun că am făcut-o bine. Naiba, sau chiar bine. Tu mă faci să-l fac de peste si peste, până când am sunt mort de oboseală. Aş mine să fie bine mort! Te suna ... naiba, Nevermind, se uita," he nodded his head, smirking at Batman with a smug smile on his face, arms crossed and eyes narrowed. Everyone blinked, having expected him to say a sentence or two, but not a whole rant. Yeah it could be considered a rant in their opinion and the way he said it, well, it was obvious he was bashing Batman in everyway possible and known to man, probably.

Batman sighed, getting the jist of what he said just by his body language. Well, he didn't really know what it was. It could just have been complaining about the crab cakes from last night but he doubted it was that. Turning away he nodded toward Superman who sighed deeply and shook his head. Robin smirked faded off his face and his shoulders slumped a bit, eyes downcast under his mask. Wally put a hand on his shoulder and comfortingly rubbed it, giving him a reassuring smile. Robin smiled back but then trudged off toward the Zeta-beam that lead to the Batcave.

Batman followed, sending a look toward the team. "I'll update you and see if I can do anything."

They nodded and watched as they left, finally they each turned away and walked toward the couch. Even though no one was physically hurt, the mission was a slight failure.

* * *

Dick sat over in his chair in his room, slumped over his desk. His drawing pencils lay scattered over the desk, expensive paper with sketches of Gotham, the team and his friends from school on them, the details amazing. He muttered under his breath and sighed as he heard Romani. Of course, since it'd happen he couldn't help but think of his parents. His pale hand, one that used to be sun kissed, moved the drawings away, causing pencils to fall on the floor and a few sheets of paper to flutter to the floor. A picture, one that'd he'd drawn, of his parents was on the bottom. It could have been drawn when they were alive, the detail of their faces were drawn so specifically that Dick smiled every time he saw it.

At that moment, the vibration of his phone startled him so, causing him to jump up and out of his seat, the paranoia Bruce had driven into him coming into play. He snatched it and quickly checked to see who it was. Barbra Gordon. His other best friend after Wally, probably his best, best friend, considering they'd known each other ever since he came to live with Bruce. It was a simple text, nothing to much. Heck, at least it wasn't a call. He couldn't have answered that and then if he ignored it and didn't call back she'd hunt him down like Artemis would to Wally when he stole her bow.

_May I ask, good sir, where you are? _

He grinned, thinking of how he could read it. Shrugging away the pain in his shoulder from getting launched into a pillar, he replied back with a small smile.

_Of course, madam. I am in a far yet safe room. _

He replied, after a few minutes of contemplating what he would say. Of course, this would go on for a few hours, probably late into the night. It consisted of hiding the iPhone whenever Bruce or Alfred, mostly Alfred of course, came to check on him. And Babs would hide it from her dad, the Commissioner, when he came to check on her. One time they stayed up until two in the morning discussing the pros and cons of the Unicorn.

_Why of course… So what's up? _

She dropped the little accent thingy they were doing, simply going to what they did normally. Sometimes they would add little accents to their texts and even came up with a code. Though, it could easily be cracked. They told each other everything, no matter what it was. Unless, as expected, it had to do with Batman and Robin stuff. They never lied.

_Nothing really, just a normal day. _

Well, sometimes never it just another word.

* * *

Bruce sat in his chair in the Batcave, going over the DNA samples and brain cells that he had taken from Richard. There was something freaky running through it that had attached itself to his DNA and brain cells. The brain cells seemed to have turned a greenish blue color, with brown spots speckled over them. The DNA wasn't as bad as the cells, but still bad. So far, he hadn't found anything to get rid of it. No antidote or anything that seemed to fix it. The weird, whatever it was, seemed to just absorb it.

He'd tried to extract it a put it on a slid under a microscope, trying to inject different chemicals into it. Nothing worked.

He sighed and turned away, thinking of what Dick had most likely said to him. They'd gotten into a disagreement yesterday. Well, a little bit more of a disagreement. During training, he'd pushed the boy to hard. Telling him if he messed up, he'd die. It was true, but the boy was only thirteen, yet he acted so much older. He kept telling him that it wasn't good enough. He mines well have said 'not good enough…for me' because judging by the determined yet saddened look of Dick's face, that's what it felt like.

If anything, it was going to be an issue, this whole mess. Especially if Richard was angry with him.

And not being able to figure out what was wring might add to it.

* * *

**This is in order, so yeah:**

**1.) Guys? I'm slightly confused... what are we doing? **

**2.) But I'm confused! None of you are telling me ANYTHING! **

**3.) You guys suck, you know that right?**

**4.) You're a jerk. You don't ever say I did well and only point out my faults. You never tell me that I'm good and often leaves me sitting there in my room wondering if I'm good enough to be here. Maybe you should give me to the orphanage! Maybe that'll make your life easier if you have one less thing to worry about! Know what! Maybe I'll go on my own account. Every time I practice or do something for you, well, you never say I did it good. Heck, or even well. You make me do it over and over until I'm dead tired. I'd mines well be dead! You call yourself... heck, never mind, forget it. **

**Okay, next chapter should be coming when possible! **

**Hope you guys liked! **


	3. HIATUS

**Alright. So this story is going on HIATUS until further notice. I'm at a complete standstill with it. :( It sucks!**

**Though, look for updates on Free Will, Another Look, and A Growing Robin, soon, because I'll be focusing on those. Ugh. Who hates writers block? Anybody raising their hands? *sigh* I am sorry guys, but my mind is just going like, "No… no writing for you on this story!"**

**So, yeah… go ahead and slap me with a fish… But, when I do get my motivation back! We'll go full on!**


	4. Chapter 3: Thoughts

***Inches into room***

**Hiya. **

***glances around at angry mob* **

**Am I forgiven? **

**0o0o0o0**

Dick sat on his bed, his legs dangling off the side as he stared up at the red velvet canopy that made up the roof of his bed.

A small moan escaped his lips and his eyes twitched occasionally. His arms were folded over his stomach, his long, pale fingers were clasped tightly together, his index finger on his right hand tapping against his left hand. His blue eyes looked annoyed, frustration mixed in with the blue color around his pupil.

"Acest lucru este atât de prost," he muttered to himself, listening to the words fold over his tongue and into the room. It was stupid, just as he said, because he couldn't help but think of his parents. The painful memory caused him to physically wince and he roll over to his left side, pulling his eyes away from the red canopy. He grabbed a controller from under his pillow and pressed the little "play" button, pointing it toward his iHome. Glenn Miller* blasted out from the speakers, the saxophones and drums pounding against the room.

The music didn't help, because Swing was his father's favorite, and listening to it didn't help. Though, this probably was his favorite song too, it helped calm him and it was so much easier to listen too than more of the modern music and songs. He remember sitting in the trailer on the dining room table at eight O'clock watching his mother and father dance to Swing, Glenn Miller's rich voice would occasionally emit from the speakers, announcing the next song.

It was so much fun. His mother would speak to him in smooth Romani, pulling him from the table and letting him get on her feet so he could dance with her.

"_Such a handsome young man!" _She would proclaim in English, grinning as he giggled and his head bashfully away, turning away from her. Not that he was really ashamed, it just seemed natural. He had then grown useful to compliments from his parents and other circus workers. He didn't have a big ego, he was just used to people praising him. Switching from that to "_You're going to die if you mess up" _hadn't exactly been a healthy change.

The song switched from _In The Mood _to _Kilarney_, still by Glenn Miller. He closed his eyes to the song, sitting up and switching his head from the mattress to the soft, silk pillow. He smiled a bit, thinking of the teams faces (he couldn't handle thinking about his parents anymore) when he ranted at Batman about Batman. It was pretty funny. While he had been clouded by anger, he could still sense those around him, and from the corner of his eyes he could see their faces.

Wally had deadpanned, and his face was beet red. Artemis' mouth was slightly agape and her eyes were wide. Connor was trying not to laugh and M'gann looked to near tears, probably from the anger that had been rolling off him. He would hate to be an empath. And Zatanna looked quite shocked at seeing Robin snap at Batman like that, she'd actually taken a step back. Wonder Woman looked amused, because she loved Richard like her son (he called her mom sometimes) and loved it when he argued with Bruce. Superman just stood there smirking. As for the rest, he really didn't care.

He wasn't going to school now either and Barbra, his most best friend ever, was irritated because he couldn't talk to her. The story Bruce has come up with was pretty good and it wasn't a bid deal, really, either. It happened all the time to Richard Grayson. It was all over the newspapers too, which Dick found pretty funny. The papers had sucked it in like animals.

He'd gotten kidnapped by some thugs. Batman came before anyone knew, because it was Saturday and he hadn't been outside like he normally was when Bruce went to check on him, and rescued him. The thugs had threatened to slit his throat and one almost managed. Well, not almost, according to the newspapers. Because one had managed to get the knife across his throat, damaging his vocal chords. At least, that's what they were told. The Reporters were not allowed to see poor Richard Grayson, as he was in his bed with a doctor by his side, shivering from the experience.

As if, he snorted when Bruce told him, that would be nothing.

Bruce had just nodded and then walked out of the room.

That had been a week ago. And still here he was, stuck in his own language. It sucked. It felt good, he had to admit, to get back to hid Gypsy roots, which he'd thought a lot about in the past few weeks. Do the traditional "Scarf around the neck thing". He'd been so close to wearing a scarf that day to school, and then Bruce took one look at him and ripped it off. He wasn't sure why, Bruce wouldn't tell him.

A day or two ago, he'd really freaked out. He was reading his book and he was looking at this word, this really simple word. He couldn't understand it. He could see the letters and he could see the word itself, but he couldn't get himself to pronounce it. To really say it actually. He couldn't. He knew what the word meant, but even that was beginning to fade a bit. Was that really what it meant? He wasn't sure and it wasn't like he could go and ask Bruce, because Bruce didn't understand him. He almost had a panic attack.

He dropped the book and leapt from his desk chair, pushing it to the floor, allowing the metal to emit a muted thump against the polished wood. Dick, shaken and afraid, he crawled into bed and fallen asleep. Bruce had come up to check on him, only to find the orphan curled up in a shaky ball under his covers, a book thrown across the room, and a desk chair on it's side. He'd shaken his head and put everything back, and then went to tuck the thirteen year old, knowing, no matter how much he complained, that he liked it, and then walked from the room with a sad look on his face. It seemed that he and his son, were drifting apart.

0o0o0oo0

Bruce felt horrible.

They _were_ drifting apart. Dick rarely ever talked to him when he was in his Robin persona and even less then, sometimes, in his civilian persona. He was either at school, or hanging out with his few friends in the city. On Saturdays he was either outside, training, or on the X-box 360 or Wii. Sundays he was doing something in his room, Bruce wasn't really sure what, and then they were back to Monday.

Of course, when they trained they would see each other. But Bruce didn't exactly make that family time.

Richard was a teenager, being only thirteen, and wanted to hang out with friends. Bruce wasn't exactly like that at Dick's age. He was depressed, alone, and really didn't want to deal with ignorant people who had everything and nothing, just like him. He'd had a friend, one he had been close to telling about Batman, but then he was turned insane by the Joker. But Dick was either outside or in the gym, or sometimes he was in the city with Barbra, the girl Bette Kane, and Artemis.

They only conversed at dinner, but the boy was such a fast eater, Alfred never let him speak. He would about school, homework. "It's okay," Dick would reply and then continue stuffing his face with Alfred's masterpiece. Or one day he made the mistake of asking "What are you thinking about?" when he himself despised that question. Dick's face got an irritated look to it and he scowled, chasing his peas around the china with a fork. He shrugged and mumbled something that sounded like "nothing" under his breath. He then scowled and stabbed his dumpling with the knife.

Bruce didn't say much after that.

And then he'd pressed too hard. And then they'd had that argument. And he'd pressed too hard again. And then the argument got worse. It was a cycle, a bad one, and things weren't looking any better.

He had taken a look at the DNA and cells in Dick's body. The serum wasn't there anymore. It was moving, or was already in, his mind, his brain. Dick had come to him the other day and began to write something an a paper he'd brought with him. He seemed to hesitate as he wrote, however, as if he couldn't figure out what he wanted to say. Bruce had found it quite odd.

And then he'd read the note. He dashed to the Batcave, pulling his son along with him, who stumbled behind him, and did X-rays of his son's brain and body. He was healthy, his body was still the same. But his head, something was running thought his head, something that didn't make sense.

Something was eating away at the knowledge in his mind. Bruce had continued studying it, banishing Dick to his bed, and found that it ate it away. You couldn't recover the knowledge, you'd have to replace it. Anything that had to do with the English language would be gone; learning it, speaking it, reading it,_ hearing _it. He would just forget it. Replacing knowledge like that would be difficult, almost impossible really. He'd have to get Zatara to help him.

He'd come up with the idea to make a helmet loaded with all the knowledge of English that Dick knew. He couldn't just create the knowledge, but if he could go back see how much the "parasite", as he called it, had eaten, he might be able to deduce what needed to be replaced.

It wasn't much, but it was a start.

0o0o0

**Slight filler. Sorry for the short chapter. **

**Glenn Miller*: The conductor for the Army Air Force Band. He died during WWII, over the English Channel. Check out a few of his songs, preferably the one "In The Mood" which is what Dick was listening to. **

**I stopped half way through because I had GANGNAM STYLE stuck in my head, so I had to hear the song. Now I'm listening to The Ready Set. *sigh* **

**Review?! **


	5. Chapter 4: Failure

**I made the track team. That's my excuse. I don't get home until, like 5:00 PM, and then I got homework and, like… life. And pole-vaulting, which I am doing now too. **

…

**Yeah. **

**Also, sorry for any mistakes in this chapter. I went over it, bu I have a feeling that I missed some stuff. Thanks!**

**ANYWAY, how have you all been? **

**Here are the translations, IN ORDER:**

**You do realize I can't understand you, correct? **

* * *

Richard Grayson was completely lost.

First, he had no idea what Alfred was saying. And second, he was still in his pajamas and a coffee mug was on his bedside table. Alfred was speaking rather rapidly, his eyes half closed with weariness, and his shoulders sagging just a bit. Obviously, Batman had kept the man up all night; Dick was going to tell Bruce about that, who wouldn't notice it unless someone pointed it out to him. Despite the fact that Dick was in his pajamas, and couldn't understand a single word the British butler was saying, he was in a fairly good mood.

He'd had a good, dreamless sleep, and he hadn't woken up in the middle of the night in a blind panic, like he often did. He threw the covers off his legs, ignoring whatever Alfred was saying, and jumped up onto the balls of his feet with a cheerful bounce. He strode over to his closet, and threw open the large doors. He heard movement and Alfred's frustrated voice talking behind him, but he ignored it and pleasantly went along back to picking out what he was wearing. He decided on a pair of gym shorts and a tee-shirt, along with some bunny slippers that Wally had gotten him for Christmas one year, despite the speedster being Atheist.

He turned back around to face Alfred, his face contorting into a slight judging yet confused look. "Îți dai seama că nu te pot înțelege, corecta?" he asked, letting his arms fall down to his side.

Alfred blinked once and then twice and then slowly began moving to the door, his tone getting slightly higher and a bit more faster than before. Finally, with one final and exaggerated gesture, he huffed and stalked out of the room the only way a Brit could, face red with anger. Dick laughed, pulling off the silk PJ's and sliding the gym shorts and tee-shirt on.

He flipped and somersaulted over to his desk, landing on the balls of his feet, his legs bent and his arms out to his sides, parallel to the floor. He leapt over to the chair, grabbing the back with his hand and turning it around so he could sit in it, he then slid over to his desk and picked up the drawing pencil. He tapped the end against his cheek, turning the chair around to look at his room. Unbeknownst to Bruce's knowledge, he'd been training his eidetic memory and hyper observentry. He had realized, when he was about twelve, that he had a photographic memory, along with the being hyper observant. He had connected this with the fact that he had to look at everything. His eyes scanned the room like a hawks could, focusing in and zooming in on things that looked different or out of place. It had certainly helped him with the whole detective deal of things, along with studying for tests.

His eyes focused in on something under his bed, something shiny. He tilted his head to the side and closed his eyes. He went over the image in his head, looking at every detail and then opened his eyes and walked over. He leaned down over onto the floor and swept his hand under the large canopy bed, making dust bunnies and a small ring fly out from under the bed.

He snatched the ring before it got too far and hefted himself onto his bed. He studied the emerald and diamond ring, his eyes focusing on every detail. Details like the fact that there was a small scratch on the left side or that there's some dirt, probably from being under the bed, stuck in along the rim where the emerald was attached to the silver.

The ring look vaguely familiar, but he couldn't remember where he'd seen it. He thought long and hard about it, holding the ring rightly in his fist, which had closed around the ring and was now resting tightly on his right leg. Shaking his head, Dick decided it would be a fantastic thing to draw, as he'd never done a ring before, and walked calmly back over to his desk where his paper was.

He set the ring down and adjusted his lamp so the light would be coming from the direction he wanted it too, and began to draw. He hummed odd tunes to himself, including _Once upon a December _from Anastasia and _I'll Fly Away_, a hymn his mother used to sing. The songs helped calm his mind, and helped him focus on the drawing, which was coming along quite nicely actually. Sure, in the back of his mind a nagging was telling him he should be worried about his situation and that he should start teaching English again, but right now his thoughts were so simplistic and relaxing he didn't feel like learning English again.

By the team his coffee had long since gone cold and the sun had at least moved over five positions, he was done with the ring drawing. He picked the picture up and slid the chair over to the window, he looked at the picture in the sunlight and, thoroughly, proud, placed it on his nightstand. Turning back to look at the window, he was greet with a grey, still, foggy day. Despite it being around noon and Gotham being so close to the water, the fog during the wintertime usually hung around till 2 in the afternoon, often fading into a smoking day. The sky was overcast, not that you could see it through the thick white blanket that covered the gardens, and any light that escaped through was grey and smoky.

He sat there for a long while, just staring out the window, and then turned away, a frown etched on his face. For a very long moment, he didn't move just staring at the floor. He thought about his shortness of breath, right after he got hit with whatever that gun had been called, the fact that he was always tired and had a sudden lack of appetite. His mind then, suddenly flying into a wild panic, spouted off every english word that it could think of. He went rigged, grasping the arm rests tightly, his knuckles growing white. His eyes looked milky and were wide open, staring into space as his mind flew into a panic. For a moment, his body did nothing while his mind went into the rush and then he gasped and fell onto the floor, breathing heavily. He tried to sit up, his eyes closed tightly, but then he fell back onto the cold hardwood and lay there, panting, his body tightening up.

He didn't move, finally falling unconscious.

* * *

Bruce didn't even realize what time it was. Sure, he was tired, and the amount of coffee he had had to keep him awake was probably in the hundreds by now and his movements were sluggish, despite the sugar in his system. Bruce wasn't known for going to bed on time, really, and he sure as heck was going to start going now. What time could it be? 3? 4 maybe? In the morning?

He shrugged and then turned back to his work, almost finished. Zatara, who had been ever so reluctant to help, decided that he didn't want to be on Batman's bad side.

They figured out that the Langasite (Lang-uh-site, combination of Language and parasite), which had been so fondly dubbed, was accelerating in it's movement. They kept pressing on, trying to keep their heads on straight and keep on going on the something good that they had found. They had found a way to counteract the parasite. Bruce would inject a serum into his son's system, which would travel until it met his brain. It would then replace any lost knowledge, such as anything he couldn't remember before. On the downside, it would heal anything else he wouldn't remember, including childhood memories with his parents he didn't remember, or maybe notes that he'd lost for school. Bruce was trying a way to reduce this effect, trying to focus the serum to remain really on the left side of his brain, which would also help increase his logical side.

"You know," Zatara said, straightening up from the microscope, "I hope I get a sort of repayment for this. I am taking time out from Zatanna."

Bruce grunted, focusing on the serum and then straightened up. "Of course," he replied, "I hope you don't mind money, considering that's really all I have."

Zatara smiled softly, "Thank you."

"Mmhmm," Bruce mumbled, not really caring that someone had just suggested that he repay them. It happened to him quite often.

"Master Bruce?!" Alfred yelled, suddenly running in from the elevator. "Master Bruce!"

"Yes Alfred?" the younger man asked, his face contorted with worry as he straightened up from the microscope, just after dabbing it with liquid palladium. "What is it?"

"It's Master Dick! I… I found him in his room. On the floor… he… he was unconscious."

Bruce didn't even skip a beat, he lunged from behind the lab table, sprinting toward the elevator as fast as he could. He smashed his fist into the button, hoping that maybe it would make it come faster, and then lunged into the circular chamber just as he could fit through the door.

* * *

Bruce was in Dick's side in a matter of seconds the moment he entered the room. The boy was lying in front of his desk chair, lying in a crumpled, pale heap on the floor. Bruce took his pulse, his own heart quickening when he felt a very faint pulse. He scooped the boy into his arms, and pivoted on his heels, speed walking out of the room and into the nearest Batcave exit. After smashing yet another elevator button, he stepped out into the cave, calling out for Alfred to set up a medical table. The butler, having already done so, was waiting with Zatara by said table, his eyes laced with worry.

Bruce layed the boy on the table, his hands and arms shaking as he did so, and stepped away with worry, watching as Alfred began to inspect the boy. Zatara was also mumbling under his breath and sometimes there would be a faint pink of blue glow over his ward, suggesting that Zatara was doing his own to find out what was wrong.

Alfred paused for a moment, as if hesitating and then said, "It seems… Master Dick just experienced a sort of heart failure."

Bruce blinked. "Excuse me?" Zatara blinked and then nodded slowly, at least, he thought, that's what it appears to be."

"Yes," Alfred inclined, obviously troubled with the news, "He experienced ragged breathing and he was far more tired than before and I noticed that he ate increasingly less, spending more time in his room. But, this shows that it was not till after Master Richard was hit with the… gun."

Bruce froze a moment and then suddenly threw himself into a pacing movement, pivoting back and forth every couple feet. "So… you're saying that this… heart failure was caused by the parasite?"

Just as Alfred opened his mouth, Zatara opened his mouth, nodding. "Yes, the parasite is killing him. Not only is it taking away all his language ability, it is taking away his memory, his every reason and meaning to function. His entire body is going to start shutting down. Heart Failure was probably the first sign, the next might be a sort of sickness, maybe Pneumonia or Bronchitis, or something that will effect his health even more. I would suspect, however, maybe a lung will deflate, or perhaps internal bleeding."

"How do we stop it, then?" Bruce asked, "With the serum?"

"Precisely," Zatara answered. Both leaguers glanced at each other for just a moment and then jumped back toward the lab tables. Alfred stayed by Dick, stroking his hair and trying not to look at the breathing mask attached to his face. And he hoped, oh he hoped, they weren't too late.

* * *

**Review!**

**This was published on December 14th, 2012: A R.I.P to the lives lost today in the shooting in Connecticut. Give the families strength and please let them get through this tough time. This is a dark day in American History. My prayers go out to them. **


	6. Chapter 5: Serum

**Last update guys! **

**It's been a pleasure! **

* * *

Wally was utterly pissed right now.

Flash and Green Lantern hadn't given any knowledge of Dick right now and from what Wally had heard in the news, the cover story was that Dick Grayson had damaged Vocal Cords from being kidnapped. It was good, he had to admit, but right now he was more concerned on the fact that the team hadn't heard anything about their youngest member.

"I'm sure he's fine, Batman's creating something to help fix the problem," Artemis inclined, turning over the page of her magazine.

Wally snorted, "Yeah, I guess. I still find something off about the whole ordeal."

"Mmhmm," she murmured, focusing more on the magazine. Sighing, Wally hefted himself off the green couch and wandered over to the kitchen, where M'gann and Zatanna were chatting over some coffee and cookies. Both girls were dressed in sweats and tank tops, with fuzzy slippers and steam curling off the coffee. He listened to their conversation, enjoying himself over a glass of Dr. Pepper.

"Wally? Hello?"

His head snapped up to see both girls looking at him curiously.

"Huh? Yeah?"

"Um, are you alright?" Zatanna asked, her brow furrowed in worry. M'gann set her coffee down.

"Uh… yeah, I'm just worried about Di- Robin. I mean, it's been two weeks and we haven't heard anything at all," Wally admitted, his mask falling off his face. "And I'm his best friend. I freaking out inside, honestly. I mean, how hard is it for Batman to tell us how Rob is doing, right?"

Both girls exchanged glances and seemed to be having a small telepathic conversation. Zatanna then glanced back at Wally, her eyes looking him over. He was slouched against the counter, and the dark circles under his eyes far more pronounced with the fluorescent light. His Irish skin was quite pale, and the freckles on his face popped out a bit more than they had before. He was wearing a pair of Khakis and a _Mayday Parade _t-shirt.

"Well," Zatanna started, pursing her lips, "We just have to wait. Patience is a virtue."

"I've been waiting for two weeks!" Wally snapped, lashing out his formerly tightly bound anger.

Zatanna jumped back, a hurt look entering her face. M'gann quickly jumped in, "Wally, no need to get snippety. Beside's I think you can wait a little longer, maybe you should try and contact the League. I can talk to Uncle J'onn telepathically, and Wally, you're not the only one who's worried. I am too, and I'm sure the rest of us are too."

Wally's breath hitched but then he nodded and looked down as the floor ashamedly. "Sorry," he mumbled.

"It's okay… ginger," Zatanna replied, now smirking. She got over lashes fairly fast. Her public school wasn't the most friendliest place ever, and she knew how to handle people with temperamental issues.

"Come on, I'll ask what's going on," M'gann said, walking over and placing a comforting hand on Wally's shoulder. She smiled softly, her eyes suddenly fading into a bright green.

* * *

"Barbra Gordon!"

The red head jumped in her seat, her head snapping up to meet the teachers strong hawk-like gaze. She straightened in her seat, her hands falling quickly under the desk to smooth her skirt, mostly from habit.

"Yes?" she asked weakly, her voice cracking slightly. Some students snickered.

"Miss Gordon," the teacher sneered, "can you telling me what we're talking about?"

Barbra blinked, and then cursed under her breath. "No," she mumbled.

"Excuse me?" Her teacher smirked.

"I said 'No'," Barbra replied loudly, not meeting the teachers gaze.

"I thought so. Well, now that you are with us. Mister Hancock, may you please inform Miss Gordon of what we were formally discussing?"

"With pleasure," Brian said, grinning as he turned in his seat to face the red head, who was now blushing a deep red.

"We were talking about the conflict in _To Kill A Mockingbird_, _Miss _Gordon," Brian sneered, grinning nastily as Barbra glared at him. She hated his guts, which was a far more shorter version of her hatred towards him.

"Ah, um, thank you," she replied through her teeth. Brian smirked and then turned back around toward the teacher, clasping his hands together and nodding at the teacher. Barbra rolled her eyes and resisted the temptation to slump over and close her eyes.

Dick hadn't contacted her ever since he'd gotten kidnapped. Normally, he'd call her after the second or third day of recovering and tell her everything that happened. Mostly it was the same; zip-tie him to a chair, put a gun in his face, take a video and send it to Bruce and the city with a ransom of about a bazillion dollars. Then, Batman and Robin would come in take care of him. She'd always breath heavily on these parts, always asking what they looked like, and who they may be. But now, she figured maybe he couldn't talk because of the damage to his vocal cords. She winced, thinking of how much it must've hurt to be grazed by a knife on the neck.

Still, maybe a text would be nice, or even an email. But nope, nothing. And when she'd gone over to the manor to check up on him, Alfred had shakily replied that Richard was still recuperating and the doctor didn't want him seeing anybody because it might upset him. She had turned away as he shut the door, scoffing. As if, Dick was a strong as a dam. Seeing someone would probably make him feel better. He was a people person, more or less, but still. She couldn't help but feel like Alfred was hiding something when he'd replied. He looked shaken, and worried and like maybe Dick was worse off than what he was telling her. This often happened. Sometimes, he would come into school with burns marks, scars, bruises. She'd seen the scars that marred his body and for a while, she had thought he was cutting himself.

But he reassured her that he wasn't, but still the thought had never left her mind.

And she still couldn't help but be worried.

* * *

"It's ready!" Bruce yelled, jumping over the table to where his ward lay, breathing faintly. His eyes and fingers twitched every so often, and sometimes her would mumble into the breathing mask, but it was so muffled they couldn't understand what he was saying.

Bruce stabbed the syringe into his sons chest, breathing deeply as the blue liquid injected itself into his ward's system.

He leaned over Dick's body, his arms falling into his chest. He wasn't going to cry, he couldn't cry. He wouldn't cry. But tears still leaked from his eyes as his sons body suddenly went rigid. Dick's eyes flew open, causing every to jump back.

They were glowing.

Glowing a bright, neon turquoise.

Bruce gripped the metal bars of the bed, watching with worry etched on his face. Dick's body convulsed, Alfred jumped forward to hold his body down, along with Zatara, as Bruce was too much in shock to do anything else but stare in horror.

Alfred ripped the breathing mask off, snapping the cloth material that held it to Dick's face.

And then he suddenly flat-lined.

"No!" Bruce yelled, pressing down on his sons chest. 20 seconds… 30 seconds… 40 seconds… Bruce cried out in anger, pressing against his sons chest… 50 seconds… One minute… BEEP! Suddenly. the heart monitor flashed to life and Dick's body thumped against the matress.

He began mumbling in Romani, spouting off random words and phrases. A few english words mixed their way in, but mostly it was Romani, the Gypsy language. Suddenly, he gasped, flinging his torso upright so that he was sitting up. He blinked, his eyes suddenly fading back into their original color, despite them being slightly more of a brighter blue than before. Tears sprouted from his eyes suddenly and he began to cry. Bruce lunged forward and wrapped the boy in his arms, stroking his head and mumbling incoherent words.

"Bruce," Dick mumbled, still sobbing and hiccupping. His voice held a slight accent. "I- I'm s-s-sorry."

Bruce relaxed. English. "About what?" he asked, his voice calm.

"I was so mean. I messed up on a mission and I didn't even do what you asked. You're right I don't make you happy, if I mess up I'll die." He began to sob a bit more heavily now, leaning into his father's shirt.

"No, no…" Bruce murmured, "Is that what you think I think? That I'm not happy if you don't listen to me? No. I just get extremely worried. I want you to stay safe, I want you to be here, with me. If you mess up… I don't know what I'll do."

"Really?"

"Yes, promise."

Dick smiled and wiped the tears from his eyes and face. He chuckled softly, swinging his legs over the bed and slowly lowering himself onto the floor. Zatara, Alfred, and Bruce watched carefully as he grasped the metal bars tightly to steady himself. "I think my body shut down there."

Bruce decided to refrain from telling him that he flat-lined. He breathed and smiled.

"Well, I'm glad your back."

Dick smirked, "Me too."

* * *

_Robin B-02_

Everyone's head snapped up.

Robin entered from the Zeta tubes, wearing his typical black washed jeans and green hoodie pullover. He grinned when he saw them and waved, going into a light joig toward the green couch.

"Robin!" M'gann yelled, jumping up and embracing him in a large hug.

"M'gann," he choked, squirming under her tight hold. "C-can't breath!"

"Oh!" She pulled herself off him and then gasped, "You can speak english!"

He smirked and beamed at their happy and surprised faces. He walked past the Martian and sat down next to Wally, who threw his arm over his younger brother, grinning proudly. "Indeed I can," Robin inclined, "and I'm glad to be back."

"Glad to have you back," Artemis grinned back, nudging him with her hand.

He grinned and went along recounting what had happened to him, the good and the bad.

* * *

**Wow, we're done. I'm surprised now. I had thought it would take longer. **

**Anyway, thank you for sticking through with this story, even though my updates were far and wide. I really appreciate all of you very much, thank you for your words of encouragement and understanding. I couldn't ask for a better group of readers, honestly. **

**Well, it's been a pleasure, so I bid thee farewell! **

**With Love, **

_**-Fighter1357**_


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